Through Winding Portals we Go!
by Gamerwhogames
Summary: Sneak out, cross a dimension, interrogate an ex-murderer, and be home before dinner. This was the ingenious plan of Jesse Jr and Missy Smith, children of the New Order. Get something to eat, don't anger citizens by existing, go to bed. This was the mundane lifestyle of Aiden Mercer. Get lost in a hall of portals and handfuls of dangerous, new worlds. This was not part of the plan.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys! It's me, the Gamerwhogames, and welcome to "Through Winding Portals We Go!", or TWP for short. If you've seen my few months old poll, you'll notice that TWP was a top vote, with "Post-Wither" coming in second, I think. Things might've changed today, but when I last checked those were the results, so I got writing. Don't worry, though. We'll get to those others, eventually. Let's get started!**

 **Where are we, AU-ishly speaking? Well, we're between episode 8 of season 1 and episode 1 of season 2. The Admin isn't showing up anytime soon, nor our sweetheart Stella. Radar? He's there. What would an S2 fic be without Radar? I'm not so sure about Jack or Nurm, but don't get your hopes up now. Even Radar isn't going to have a huge appearance in this one, nor Jesse and Petra themselves. The point I'm trying to get across is that there's a chance they'll be there, but if they are they won't have long parts to play, and you probably already know why.**

 **That's about all I'm going to say, because if I went any further, I wouldn't have a story to tell! Let's get started. Hit it, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (hits it)**

* * *

"Dad, could you show me the flint and steel trick?" A young, red-haired boy gently prodded his father with said flint and steel, not noticing the scattered stacks of paper that had his dad's attention.

"Not now, Jesse. I'm busy." Jesse didn't even look from the sheet of paper. Jesse Jr wilted, a longing eye on the glowing trinket. He momentarily studied some of the paper, written in some adultish language he quickly found he couldn't concentrate on or even read.

"Dad, what about Uncle Radar? Can he do it?"

"No, he's busy doing other things around town right now, plus you need to wash up for dinner in a few minutes."

"Can't I do it myself? I'm old enough by now."

"Jess, you're eight, too young to even be touching something so dangerous."

"But I'm touching it right now, see?" Jesse Sr's eyes barely flicked to the left before he exploded out of his chair with a yelp. Before young Jesse could process his dad's cat-like reaction, he wrenched the flint-and-steel out of his hand.

"Jesse Rey Smith! What have I told you about touching this thing?" Jesse Jr shrank, and his father over him like a towering thundercloud.

"Um… I don't remember you saying anything about the flint-and-steel." He whimpered, wringing his hands behind his back. Touching the flint-and-steel _and_ lying? Jesse Sr bit his lip. Surely, he'd raised his son better than this.

"You know what I told you." He folded his arms and lowered his thick brows.

"But I forgot it." After their umpteenth don't-touch-the-flint-and-steel lesson?

"I told you do not touch this. It's too dangerous and you could hurt yourself!" He pocketed the weapon but not his anger. "Don't ever touch this ever again, and I really mean it this time!"

"Yes, sir, sorry dad, I won't do it again." It was the quickest apology he'd uttered to date, and Jesse Jr was out of his father's home-office in record time. He scrambled barefoot into the living room and threw himself onto the couch, letting out his fear and agony as tears and muffled wails into the pillows. His sister who sat nearby glanced at him from behind a picture book.

"Jesse, what happened now?" She asked professionally, elegantly turning her attention back to her book. He shouted something into the pillows. "Jesse, Dad doesn't hate you."

He lifted his red, tearstained face from the pillows. "But this time he really does, Missy! He yelled at me, and he was really angry, and it's true this time that he hates me! I keep making this same, dumb ol' decision over and over again."

Missy closed her book and scooted towards him, affectionately patting his back. Even though she was just a year older than him, the way she comforted him was nothing short of motherly. "It's okay, Jesse. Dad doesn't hate you. He just… doesn't really like you right now. To be honest, you bother him and get on his nerves sometimes." She looked skyward and tapped her chin. "Maybe today's just one of those days."

"Missy, watch what you say to your brother, that is not true." Petra said from the kitchen. The sound of dishes clattering and water running halted and she walked to the couch and stood. "What's going on here?"

"I was just telling Jesse that Dad doesn't hate him, he just doesn't like him sometimes."

"No, Missy, your dad loves both of you all the time. He and I never don't like you. I mean, we never like you. I mean," She groaned softly and pinched the bridge of her nose. She motioned the kids to scoot aside and sat between the both of them, taking a second to untie her tongue. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that Jesse and I will always love you two no matter what. Do you hear me Jesse?"

He lifted his head, still wiping away at tears. "But what if I keep doing bad things? What happens then?"

"Then we'll just keep loving you, Jesse." She started to rub his back, but stopped. Jesse squirmed under her stare as it slowly went from endearing to cool. "Jesse, did you touch the flint-and-steel again?" She felt the muscles in his back tense. He tried to hide under a pillow, but she caught a firm hold of his arm before he could escape. "Answer me."

"Um… fur hats?" The sweet motherliness on Petra's face drained in an instant and her grip tightened.

"Jesse, it's 'perhaps', and what have we told you about that flint-and-steel?"

A wry smirk crawled across his face. "That the first time I touched it I almost gave Uncle Radar a heart-attack?"

"No! The other thing!"

Jesse's grin wilted and looked away, digging a finger into the soft couch fabric. "I can't really remember." He cautiously looked up. Her hard stare and raised brow forced the truth out of his chapped lips. "That I'm not supposed to touch it because I could hurt myself?"

"Also, Mom, he always lies and tells Dad that he doesn't remember, but he really does most of the time, mom." Jesse stuck his tongue out at his sister, but a sharp look from his mother made it disappear.

He hung his head and neatly folded his hands in his lap. "Sorry, Mommy."

"Don't apologize to just me, Jesse. You need to apologize to your dad for taking that flint-and-steel again." Jesse fiddled with his little fingers as he slid off the couch. When he got to Jesse Sr's office, he peeked his head around the door, quieter than a Creeper in pursuit. His father's back was facing towards him, and young Jesse could see the white feather flicking to and fro. He gently pushed the door open and walked on his toes into the room, stopping just behind his dad's chair.

"Um… Dad?"

"Hmm?" He barely turned around in his chair and glanced his son out of the corner of his eye.

"Um… I'm sorry about touching the flint-and-steel."

"And what else?"

Jesse scratched his hair and avoided his dad's eyes. "And for lying as well."

"That's okay, but next time you do it you're going to be in bigger trouble. You can't touch that, I don't want you or anyone else to get hurt, alright?" He reached around and playfully ruffled Jesse's hair, making the younger boy smile.

"Yes, sir." Jesse Sr went back to his work. Jesse stood on his toes to watch. "So… does this mean you still love me?" Jesse Sr craned his neck with a quizzical smirk.

"Of course, I still love you, Jesse! I just don't want you blown to bits, that's all."

"Okay, I was just making sure." The door opened again, and they both saw Missy walking into the room without her book.

"Jesse, Mom told me to say sorry for telling you you get on Dad's nerves, so, sorry."

"That's okay. I just asked Dad if he still loved me and he said 'yes', so it's okay."

"Alright then, guys. Go on in there so I can finish up some of this work."

"Actually, Dad, there's one more thing I want to ask you." Missy nudged Jesse out of the way and leaned on her dad's arm. "Could you please tell us another story?"

"No, I've gotta do—"

"Please, Dad? I want to hear one, too." Jesse went to the opposite side of the chair and tugged at his father's arm.

"But I've already told you most of them."

"Yeah, but every time you tell us a story, you change it a little so you sound better than Mom."

"Yeah, and each one's better than the first! Please? Pretty please with an ingot on top?"

Jesse smiled at his two children, but glanced back at the pile of paper he'd need to dig through before dinnertime at least, tomorrow at most. Joke was on him for taking a nap that day. "Alright, I've gotta get this work done," the two wilted like flowers, " _but_ I'll tell you one at dinnertime." This made both of them perk up and gasp. "So, which one do you want me to tell you guys?" Jesse Jr hummed and tapped his chin while Missy gazed at the floor.

"I don't really know."

"Me neither, but can we pick one at dinnertime to tell?" Missy asked.

"Sure. Now you kids go play, or you can help Mommy in the kitchen with the plates." The two kids gangled out of the room full of giggles. Jesse smiled as they left, but his happy face faded when he again met eyes with the paper. "You know what? Maybe I should also help her with the dishes, too."

* * *

 **Bam! Chapter one is done. Ohmagerd! So, how do you guys like Jesse Jr and Missy? First impressions are the most important, are they not? I had to go through a lot of trial and error *cough*anxious,irrationaloverthinking*cough* to get their ages right, because I didn't want them to be too old to make childish decisions, or too young to make coherent decisions. Picking a right age for that wasn't too hard. In a sixteen-member household, I have plenty of examples and options. Two of my sisters who act the way I want the characters to act are about their ages, so eight and nine it was! Well, see you guys next chapter! Close it, Crisper.**

 **Crisper: (closes it)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Welcome back! Deadlines are about to kill me. Reviews are at the bottom (much thanks for those!). HIT IT, CRISPER!**

 **Crisper: (hits it)**

Instead of just four plates, Jesse and Missy ended up setting a table for eight. Tonight was family-night in the Smith house, and even though it just meant their uncles Lukas, Axel, Radar and their aunt Olivia were visiting, Jesse and Missy felt like they were dining in the presence of a published and well-known book-author, the King of Boomtown, the Manager of Redstonia, and the Supervisor of Internal Affairs of Beacontown. They knew they needed to pick a story with taste.

Missy took a bite of her pita and tomato sandwich and set it on her pink plastic plate, glancing at her brother. "Jesse, do you know a story to tell?"

"Dad's telling the story, not me." He spread his peas across his blue plate with his fork.

"That's what I meant. What are you doing on your plate?"

"I'm moving them around so I don't have to eat them."

"Just put them in your sandwich, or maybe give them to Dewey." Missy toed around under the table for Lukas's famous pet ocelot. Her bare feet met with a warm snout, and Dewey mewed softly. Jesse leaned under the table, saw the cat, and popped back up.

"Excuse me, Uncle Lukas,"

Across the table, Lukas paused his conversation with Petra. "Yeah, Jesse?"

"Um, can cats eat peas?"

Petra sent Lukas a smirk that made him chuckle.

"No, Jesse, they'll get sick. Don't try to feed Dewey, either." Jesse sent his sister a weary look. She just frowned and shrugged before going back to her sandwich.

"Alright, then." He reluctantly shoved a spoonful of peas into his mouth.

"So, Jesse, di dyou figure out which story you wanted your dad to tell?" Petra asked.

"Not yet, Mom. We're still choosing." He turned to his sister. "Think of anything?"

She nodded with a hum, but she was still frowning. She leaned over to his ear. "I have an idea, but it's to tell us the story of Aiden and the Blaze Rods. What if Dad gets angry again?" She whispered.

"But he might probably say 'yes' this time. We're old enough to hear, and he said we could choose. Just ask."

"You ask him."

"But it's your idea."

"Jesse, Missy," they flinched when their father called them, "I've already told you two it's not very nice to whisper at the dinnertable."

"Oh, we were just choosing a story, Dad." Missy said.

Jesse grinned. "Did you find one, then?" The two children sent each other a worried look. The adults giggled at their sincerity when Missy placed a professional hand on Jesse's shoulder and nodded. Jesse inhaled, a nearly unnatural smile on his face.

"Um… is it alright if you tell us the story about…."

"The one about Aiden?" Missy squeaked.

"But this time, the whole thing."

"Because we're old enough this time!" It felt like the warmth and happiness at the table drained out of the whole house. The adults seemed taller and Jesse and Missy huddled together. Jesse Sr lowered his brows and folded his arms. Petra's happy face fell, and Lukas looked down. Axel, Olivia and Radar seemed to get quieter.

"Jesse, Missy," they focused on their father, "what have I told you about that story?"

"But you said tonight we could pick one, and that's the one we want to hear." Missy said.

"Missy, you know you still can't hear that story." Petra said.

"Well, why not?" Axel's loud voice made the tense children flinch and their caught-unawares parents glare.

"Axel, you know 'why not'. Please don't tell me I have to explain it to _three_ of you tonight." Jesse's hands turned into gentle, disappointed fists.

"I'm just sayin', it's about time they heard, it's not even that bad."

"Yeah, it's not even that bad." Jesse said.

"You be quiet!" Jesse thrust an intimidating finger at his son. "You be quiet, as well!"

"Axel, how could you say that? **You know what went down up there**." Lukas said. (dear lord no pun intended)

"I know, but he's in jail now, so—"

"And that is all these two need to know, Axel." He said, hitting his fist on the table.

"But—"

Olivia tugged gently on his arm. "Axel, Lukas is right, just leave it alone."

"I just don't see what's so bad about it."

Petra facepalmed so loudly it made Missy and Jesse flinch. "Axel, would you please shut up?" She barked. Radar started slipping under the table.

"Why? What did I do so wrong, huh?"

"You mean to tell me, after all we told you, that you can't see what's so bad about what he done?" Jesse folded his arms again.

"But Dad, what did he do that was so bad?" Missy gently asked. Everything froze, and Jesse and Petra looked at their kids face-on. The calm before the storm.

"Go to bed, now." They both shouted in unison. The two children quickly stumbled from their chairs and ran to the stairs. During their gangly rush, Jesse put a hand on her sister's shoulder and a smirk on his face.

"At least I didn't have to—"

"And you're finishing your peas in the morning!" Petra added. His smirk wilted into a miserable frown as they ran upstairs. They both ran to their shared room, and Missy climbed to the top of her bunk bed. Just below, Jesse flopped onto his.

"I told you Dad was going to be mad at us."

"Well, it's not my fault! You get on his nerves, too. You made Mom tell Uncle Axel to shut up."

"Nu-uh, we both did! You helped." Missy buried her head into her pillow and cried softly. Jesse fingered and pinched his blue comforter, staring at the other end of their darkened room. A few minutes passed, and Missy lifted her head. "I still want to know what Aiden did."

"Me, too. I remember the first time Dad told us about it." Jesse sat up and hung his legs over the edge of the bed. "He said that Aiden used to be Lukas's friend, but after he took the flint-and-steel to Sky City in the portal, he and some more of Lukas's friends did something so bad they had to go to jail for a long time."

"But that's all he told us. Why can't we know the rest?"

Jesse stared at his feet. He felt his sister shifting on the top-bunk, and then he saw her feet peeping down. "They think we're just babies." He groaned, kicking his legs and falling back onto the covers. "I really wanna know about it! Axel said it's not even that bad, so what's so bad about it?"

Missy lifted a brow. "Why don't we find out?"

"But we can't ask Dad again! He'll yell at us, and Mom will have our hides!"

"No, I mean we don't have to ask them, we can go to Aiden ourselves!" She jumped from her bed and landed with a thud. Jesse nervously glanced at the wide open door, expecting Petra to leap from the shadows any second with a switch. "We already know where he is, right?"

"In the Sky City world?"

"Yeah! And Dad said the portal isn't even far from here, or at least when he told us the story that's what he said. All we have to do is find Aiden, ask him what he did, and then come home!"

Jesse stuck out his lip and poked his chin. He slowly looked up and gasped. "You mean… running away? Missy!" He leapt away from her and hid under his covers. "Missy, that's bad!"

"No, it isn't, it's…." she glanced at the floor, then smiled and looked up. "It's like going on an adventure, Jesse! Like what Mom and Dad do."

Jesse threw off his blanket. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah. An adventure." She shuddered just a bit but smiled all the way through. Jesse frowned. He could feel the pita bread rising in his stomach.

"But… what if Mom and Dad find out?"

Missy glanced down again. "They won't find out. We won't tell them, because it's a secret, okay?" She walked to Jesse and took his hand. "Tomorrow, after school, we'll find the portal and go there. We'll be back before dinner, like what Dad says sometimes."

"But sometimes he comes back late, and Mom gets angry. What if we do that?"

"We won't. Dad's old, sometimes old people forget. We're not old."

"But… but, what if?" Missy saw tears in his eyes. She leaned and gently kissed his nose.

"It's gonna be okay, you'll see. Goodnight." She clambered up the ladder, yanked her covers over, and laid on the pillow.

And she didn't sleep a wink.

 **Well, that's all we have for tonight. What happens next, you may ask? Find out next time, in TWP! But it looks like there's time for some REVIEWS!**

 **Emily The Avenger: I know, right?! I just loved writing those two. More cuteness and cuddles on the way!**

 **Ariza Luca: I'll do my best, friend!**

 **Alice Forshadow: Glad to see your energy! This story will make you laugh, I'm sure.**

 **Watcher321: Lol, thanks!**

 **ItzJaiden: Stop, you're making me blush!**

 **Well, close it, Crisper! Close it before the deadline kills me!**

 **Crisper: (closes—**

 _ **It's too late… the deadline got her….**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys, and welcome back to TWP! I'm on a bit of a deadline here, so let's head straight to reviews!**

 **Emily The Avenger: Ivor would be proud!**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: I know, right? It was a true accident, but when I noticed it I just had to make sure everyone else did. Aiden wouldn't be too amused by that one, though.**

 **Watcher321: Very true, but I mean, hey, if they make it home before dinner….**

 **HIT IT, CRISPY!**

 **Crisper: (hits it)**

* * *

"Missy," a large but slender hand gently shook Missy's arm, "Missy, wake up." The whispering voice made her slowly sit up in bed, rubbing her eyes.

"Uncle Lukas?"

"I've gotta take you and your brother to school. Get up and get dressed and packed, then come downstairs for breakfast." He leaned down, probably to wake up Jesse. Missy sat in bed for a moment. The events of the previous mind played over like a hazy video. Her stomach whirled with anxiety. Today was the big day!

She plodded down the ladder to her dresser on the other side of the room. She heard Lukas leave, shutting the door behind him, and Jesse get out of the springy bed. She pulled some shorts and a shirt out of her drawer as he walked up beside her.

"Jesse, hurry up, we have to get to school as fast as we can so we can leave." She snatched a flimsy, pink backpack off her desk and put it at her feet. Then she reached into the drawer and grabbed a parka, stuffing it into the backpack.

"What's that for? It's summertime." Jesse yawned and walked to his drawer.

"Maybe it's cold in Sky City, like how mountains are cold at the tops? And we need to be prepared!" Jesse sleepily watched his sister gather more clothes. His weary eyes trailed to his drawer. He remembered his Halloween costume was in the closet. He'd better pack that—maybe it was Halloween there, too.

After they'd changed and packed their bags, Jesse and Missy ran downstairs for breakfast. Lukas was sitting at the table scribbling in one of his drafts. Bread and a few apples sat neatly on the table. The two kids barely ate. Lukas raised a brow when they put most of their unfinished food into their backpacks.

"You guys need to eat here, now. Why're you putting it in your backpack?"

Jesse shoved his hands into his back pockets, shifting from side to side. "Um, because we're not really hungry right now."

"Yeah," Missy stepped in front of him, "we'll finish it up later, okay?"

Lukas was about to speak, but he caught a glance at the clock on the wall. "Okay, fine. Let's go, then." He shut his book, put it into his inventory and walked to the door, the two kids walking behind him. He opened the door.

"Wait!" Jesse shouted. Missy and Lukas watched as he slid the backpack off and opened it, revealing a wooden-sword. He shoved it down into his backpack put it back on.

Lukas folded his arms. "Jesse, what's a sword doing in your backpack?"

"Missy said I needed it—"

"There's something at school!" Her punchy interruption earned a stare from her uncle.

He raised a brow. "Are you sure, Missy? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No, sir! We're just jumpy about it. It's a huge, big project, and a surprise for all the adults, and it's… uh, constipated."

Lukas was too skeptical to be amused by the slip of her tongue. "You mean 'complicated'."

"Oh… well, that."

Lukas sighed and gestured to them to walk out. The excited chatter Lukas was used to on their walks to school was replaced by odd silence and occasional whispering. As they walked, he couldn't stop thinking about Jesse's sword. Something about it seemed off. When did he ever take his sword to school? Why was Missy so eager to interrupt? It wasn't her usual protective, sisterly-love, or at least it didn't feel that way to him. Also, what did—

"There's school, Uncle Lukas, bye!" Missy grabbed her little brother's arm and ran across the gravel road to the preschool on the other side. Jesse sent Lukas a worried, almost regretful frown as his sister dragged him along.

"Bye, guys." Lukas said quietly. He lingered just a moment more before shaking his head. Hopefully, it was just a weird day.

"Missy, slow down!" They stumbled to a shaky stop on the wooden-chips of the playground. He whimpered and hunched his back. "I didn't even get to say a good goodbye to him. That was the last time I was gonna see him."

"No, it's not, Jesse. Come on, we've gotta get to school. Let's go." She grabbed his hand again.

"Well, I'm gonna say goodbye to all of my friends at recess. It's the right thing to do."

School went by like it was the day before summer for the fidgeting Smith kids. Even the cafeteria cookies didn't do anything to relieve their stress. Focus was a forgotten art as they forced themselves to sit during their lecture. But when the long, grueling day came to an end in the playground where they waited for their parents, Missy and Jesse were more than happy to make a quick getaway.

Almost.

Missy stared wistfully at the glass doors leading back into the schoolroom. After that, they'd be one door away from freedom. One step away from learning about Aiden. If only Jesse had the same idea, instead of wasting time sending around funeral-invitations of farewells.

"Jesse, let's go, now." She demanded, stomping her foot.

"One more!" Jesse yelled from across the playground. He ran to a black-haired kid with a blue and white-striped shirt, sitting on the ground hitting a button. "Goodbye, Crisper! I'm gonna miss you."

He looked up and smiled. "Bye! Don't forget how awesome and cool I am while you're gone!"

By this time, Missy had it. She marched over to her brother. Jesse cried out when she snatched him by the arm. "Wait! One more! I have to say goodbye to all my fangirls!"

She stopped. "Jesse, you don't have fangirls."

"Well, Mom says I do."

"Then they're not here, then. Let's go." They ran into the near-empty hall, past a collage of kids' finger-paintings. Missy beamed—She could see the glass doors at the end of the hall. Jesse was only seeing a light at the end of a tunnel. They barged through the doors out into Beacontown. The adventure had begun.

For everyone.

Their first stop was the map-store. If Jesse and Petra weren't going to tell them where the portal was, they were going to find out themselves. They were there in minutes, and the short run did nothing to calm their nerves.

The bell at the top of the door clanged as they walked in. The owner at his desk put down his newspaper and smiled. "Hey, little guys! What brings you two here?"

"We're looking for someplace in the jungle. A huge temple with a portal inside." Jesse said.

"Oh, you and your parents planning an adventure or something?" Jesse looked to Missy to do the lying again. She nodded and forced a smile. "I'm not sure _specifically_ what you two kids are looking for, but I have some maps of different jungles around here." He reached under his desk and produced five scrolled maps that made their eyes pop. They each took two or three of the maps and rushed off to one of the nearby tables.

"Let's look at this one first. It feels lucky, I guess." Jesse said. They rolled the map open and skimmed it over. They saw a few grey squares on the mostly green map that represented jungle temples, but nothing stood out to them. They checked the next map, but ended with the same fate. "Where did Mom and Dad say that temple was, anyways?" Missy griped as they carefully inspected their third map.

"They never did, actually. But they said Ivor knows. Maybe we should ask him." Jesse idled around with a golden compass.

"But isn't he on a date with his girlfriend Harper?"

"Harper isn't my girlfriend… yet!" Ivor shouted, making both children flinch and Jesse scream like a girl. Missy stood from her table and saw Ivor glaring at them from a nook looking at the various maps. Her face paled and the maps on the table suddenly felt like hot potatoes.

"Um, how long have you been here?"

"Long enough." He spoke sternly, making his way towards the frightened kids. "Your parents are going to be furious."

"They are?" Jesse squeaked, tempted to hide under the table.

"Yes!" He folded his arms and Missy gulped. She could practically feel Ivor dragging her and Jesse by the ear to their parents. Petra would 'tear their hides up', and Jesse would be 'very disappointed in them'. She gulped and shut her eyes. "What if you had said that in front of Harper _herself_?! It would've been so embarrassing! You were raised to behave better." Ivor scolded. Missy's breath caught in her throat. So, he _hadn't_ heard their conversation with the mapmaker.

"Oh! Um… right, that was very bad. We'll never do it again." Missy said instead of sighing with relief.

"Um, do you remember where the portal to Sky City is?" Jesse asked, slowly crawling back into his seat.

"What?! I can't hear you with how loudly you just screamed! I think I've gone deaf!" Ivor joked, making the kids laugh.

"I said 'do you remember where the portal to Sky City is'!" Jesse shouted.

"Of course, I do! I have an impeccable memory!" He declared proudly. He sat in one of the chairs and slid the map under his gaze. Jesse and Missy crowded behind his chair to get a good look. He hummed quietly to himself, fingering the map and reading over the coordinates the kids barely understood. Missy stood on her tiptoes with anticipation, and she could feel Jesse's breath in her ear as he stood close. "There!" Ivor finally said, ceremoniously placing a finger on one point.

"Yes!" Missy shouted. "So, how do we get there?"

"Easy! It's only a short walk from the northern gate of Beacontown, all the way down here," he said, sliding his finger along the trail until it arrived at the temple's point. "I even lit a pathway of torches to the temple, just in case. Not that I need it, of course. Just a precaution." Suddenly, he frowned with suspicion and faced the two kids. "You two aren't planning on going there alone, are you?"

"No, sir." Missy said confidently. Jesse just shook his head. Ivor eyed them for a second more, but sensed they weren't lying and nodded. "Well, we have to go. Thanks for showing us about the temple!" Missy circled the temple with a red pencil, scooped the map off the table, and she and Jesse rushed out.

"Missy, you know… all this lying is really hurting my stomach." Jesse said as they rushed down the streets past a few citizens on their lunch-breaks. "What would Mom and Dad think if they knew we were doing this? I even went into Dad's room and stole this," he held up the flint-and-steel and the blue shine caught Missy's eye, "but it feels so wrong."

"Of course, it does! We did _not_ plan to get that!" Missy shouted as they neared the red gates on the northern side, just as Ivor told them.

"Yeah, but I was just thinking: What if someone turned to portal off? We might have to light it ourselves." When they got to the gate, they slowed to walking pace.

"Well, that's true, I guess." She said, feeling butterflies suddenly rising in her own stomach. When they crossed that gate, she knew they were going to cross every line, fence and wall their parents had ever set up. Jesse shuddered and whimpered.

"Missy, this is a really bad idea."

"Jesse, look. I'm scared about this, too, but we have to find out about Aiden. We're just going to ask him a few questions, then we'll go home before dinner, I promise." Her energy restored, she darted off again. Jesse reluctantly jogged behind her, whispering his goodbyes and apologies.

The walk to the jungle wasn't long at all for the excited, fit kids, and when they arrived, they would've been able to see the midday sun hadn't it been for the thick canopy of jungle leaves. Finding Ivor's pathway of torches along the mossy jungle-rocks was easy, and before they knew it, they were standing in front of an unlit portal. Warm sunlight streamed from the glassless windows, and the pollen from the colorful flowers outside made Missy rub her nose.

"So," she sniffled, "do you still have the flint-and-steel?"

"I never put it down." Jesse pulled it out of his pocket. Missy reached out to take them, but he jerked away.

"Jesse, we have to do this!"

"I know! But _I'm_ going to light the portal. I went through the trouble to steal it, so I get to use it!" It was easy to find a reason to justify his guilty pleasure of lighting the portal, but as he stood in front of it, he was hesitant to strike the enchanted lighter together. _It's just like a regular flint-and-steel_ , he thought to himself. He struck the two pieces together and the blast knocked them head over their heels and onto the hard, stony floor. Jesse quickly bounded back to his feet. The blue glow from the lit portal made a smile crawl across his face, and Missy stood and watched as well.

"You ready for this?" She whispered to him. Jesse turned to her, his smile fading.

"This is a really bad idea, Missy. But I'm ready." He said, his smile returning. "Girls have to go first." He said, gesturing dramatically to the doorway to the other world. Missy managed a small glare at him before she grabbed him by the arm and jumped in.

And seconds later, they found themselves falling to their deaths.

* * *

 **(is glaring at Crisper)**

 **Crisper: What did-**

 **You know what you did. U. Know. What. U. Did.**

 **Crisper: But-**

 **YOU'RE TOO OLD TO CAMEO AT A GOSHDARN KINDERGARTEN, CRISPER! Think about things before you do them.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Good morning, Minecraftia! And welcome back to chapter two of "TWP"! In the last chapter, our heroes were falling to their deaths. Cliffhanger much. And how do we fix a nasty ol' cliffhanger?**

 **Crisper: (breathes)**

 **GIVETHEMANOTHERONEIT'SGONNABELIT!**

 **Crisper: 0o0**

 **(stunned silence)**

 **You know? You… you can go ahead and,**

 **Crisper: Yeah, sure… (nervously hits it)**

* * *

It was going to be just like any other day for Radar. He'd managed a few things around the city alongside Jesse and Petra wherever he could, and now it was time to pick up Jesse Jr. and Missy.

He walked to the front of the school, through the doors and outside to the schoolyard. Children bustled around, scattering wood chips around. He scanned their heads, but couldn't find Jesse or Missy anywhere.

"Jesse! Missy? It's time to, um, go home. Where are you?" He started to walk around, feeling awkward since he was the only adult in the playground at that time. A few children glanced at him, but most of them didn't acre to bother him. After searching for a few minutes, he started to get sweaty. Within five, he was frantic and ready to turn the heavy playground and all its woodchips upside down if he had to. When the schoolteacher came to ask him if everything was okay, he was almost at the breaking point.

"Is everything okay, sir?"

"No! Everything is most definitely _not_ okay!" He gasped, dragging a sweaty hand through his slicked hair. "Have you seen Jesse and Missy? They're usually out here."

"Maybe they went to use the bathroom?"

"Maybe? You're supposed to know _for sure_ about these kinds of things! There isn't a 'maybe'!" He fussed, rushing past her and into the hall. He rushed into the boys bathroom and a shrill scream went up. Apologizing profusely, he backed out of the _girls'_ bathroom and went into the boys'. "Jesse! Jesse, are you in here?!" He shouted, but there was no response. When he backed out, he saw the teacher waiting anxiously on him. "Are there any other bathrooms?"

"Besides the staff room, no."

"Oh, my goodness!" He hissed under his breath, glancing around frantically like a deer ready to dart. "Are they in an extra class or something? Where were they last?"

"The playground. That's where all the kids wait for their parents."

"Well, where are Jesse and Missy? Did someone pick them up already?"

"Not that I know of."

"Again, with the 'maybe's!" He made a mental note to sue the entire city for this. "If anything happened to those kids, I'm not gonna forgive myself." He paced back to the playground to look for them one last time. But when he went outside, he saw the same kids playing the same games on those same old wood chips in the same playground. He didn't care to wipe away the sweat dripping gently down his forehead or staining the underarms of his green shirt. He didn't care that he was overanalyzing a playground full of kids. There were bigger problems on hand. It finally hit him that he wasn't going to find Jesse and Missy in the school. He held back one of his infamous shrieks and rushed past the same teacher standing there with that dumb, worried look. He'd have to deal with her later.

After long hours of revising and selling books in his shop, Lukas decided he'd take himself a powernap in the office while he waited for the door to open. He glanced at the unfinished draft on the table, scarred with red ink where he'd make corrections soon. He jotted down one last note before reclining in his wooden chair. It took months of mastering the skill of not falling backwards. His eyes began to shut, but he barely heard the doorbells jingle before someone shrieked his name in the longest and highest pitch known to his ears. He flinched and fell backwards, hitting his head on the floor. He scrambled to his feet while rubbing his head. Radar stood at the door, chest growing and shrinking almost completely. His whole head darted left and right. "Radar, what's wrong?"

"They're—they're not here with you?!"

"Who?"

"Oh my gosh." Radar grabbed a clump of his hair and nearly wrung it out.

"Radar, what happened?"

"Did they go home or something? M-maybe they went home! That's it. They—they went home."

"Who went home? The kids?"

"They weren't at the school, Lukas! I looked, and I couldn't find them, so I thought they were here with you, but they're not. I'm really hoping they just walked themselves out of the school or something like that, but, I've—I've gotta go!" He clambered out of the shop. Lukas gave the room a split-second check before rushing out with him. He could heard Radar rambling to himself about the kids' whereabouts. When they got to the house, Radar opened the door with the spare key he was given and they barged in.

"Jesse! Missy! Where are you two? Are you two here?!" Radar screeched, and Lukas didn't stop him. No answer. His stomach tightened.

"Maybe they went with Ivor?" Lukas suggested. Radar gave a tiny nod before rushing out the door. When they got to Ivor's lava house in the middle of the city, Lukas had to stop Radar banging hysterically on the door before he broke his hand. It swung open to reveal a grumpy Ivor, likely interrupted from an enchanting session. Or maybe just a nap.

"What are you trying to break my door down for?" He snarled.

"Ivor, have you seen Jesse and Missy?" Lukas asked before Radar could.

"Why, yes, I have!" Ivor said, visibly brightening up.

"Where? Are they here with you? Or did they go somewhere else? If they did, where—"

"One question at a time, Compass." Ivor said. Radar didn't care to correct Ivor like he'd done so many times before. "I saw them at the map shop about ten minutes ago."

"You _saw_ them and you left them _alone_?!" Radar shrieked.

"They were being independent! I was sure they'd be fine!" When Lukas glanced back at Radar, he was panting like an angry wolf and shaking with a mixture of stress and rage.

"Radar, calm down."

"I can't."

"Ivor, are the kids here with you?" Lukas asked.

"No." Ivor answered casually, clearly unaware of the crisis at hand. His face paled some when he really noticed their faces. "Have you checked the house?"

"Yeah, we just did." Lukas answered.

"Maybe they're with their parents, then."

"No! Jesse and Petra just told me to pick them up, and—Oh my goodness!" His hand flew to his mouth and his eyes went wide. "What am I gonna tell Jesse and Petra?!"

"They're probably somewhere around the city." Lukas said, intentionally ignoring his question. "We all just need to calm down and keep looking. They could've just wandered off somewhere, or—"

"But they've _never_ wandered off! I mean, sure they might've strayed a bit when they were babies or something, but not like _this_! What if they're lost? Or what if some crazy fan kidnapped them? Or what if they—"

"Enough with the 'what if's, Compass! We need to look for them!" Ivor shouted as he thrust his way through the two men. "They're probably wandering somewhere in the city. Let's go."

* * *

 **Two chapters in one night? God really IS real! Well, I've gotta go to college in the morning, so g'night! Close it, Crisper!**

 **Crisper: (closes it)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, guys! Welcome back to TWP! I'd just like to announce that earlier updates are coming back. I had to do something for the church, so updates were pretty late at night, but that's about all I have to say on the subject.**

 **Writing children isn't as easy as I thought. I'm likely overthinking, as usual, but I feel like I'm making Jesse and Missy sound too young for their ages. It's fun having them try out big words like 'perhaps' and 'complicated',**

 **Crisper: *snickers* Constipated.**

 **-But, I feel like I'm doing too much to their sentence structure, having them speak the way a three-year-old would or something like that. I'm gonna try to fix it in this chapter, but as always, I'm open to critique and suggestions, so if you have pointers or something to say about this, please PM me or write a review. Your help and advice will be much appreciated. Cheers!**

 **Let's hit those reviews!**

 **Emily The Avenger: Still, Compass isn't the worst he's been called. In another story I wrote, "Shake a Leg, Radar", one guy called him Rayanna.**

 **ItzJaiden: The stars have aligned! (pleasedon'texpectthemtoalignanytimesoongoodbye)**

 **Alrighty, then! Let's get started. In our last chapter, the Smith-kids have found themselves in a sticky situation.**

 **CUE THE SMITH KIDS FALLING TO THEIR DEATHS!**

 **Crisper: 0_0 (hits it instead)**

* * *

The wind whistled around them, freezing and beating their faces. Missy couldn't recall a story with her parents falling into a huge nothingness, and she wondered how this was going to end. She looked at her brother whose wide eyes were trained on the nothingness below them. He slowly faced her.

"Missy, is there anything down there?"

She looked down below, then back to her brother. "I can't tell!"

Jesse glared at her. He fought against the strong gusts to fold his flailing arms. "I am very disappointed in you." He shouted over the wind.

"What?!"

"You said we'd be home before dinner, but now look what happened." He gestured as if he was showing her a pile of mega-blocks on the playroom floor.

"Well, it's not my fault we're falling, Jesse! I didn't know this was gonna happen! That portal's probably broken, or something." She looked into the sky, raising a brow when she only saw pinkish clouds. When she looked back down, she choked out a gasp when she figured out what was so unsettling about this. "Jesse, I think we're going to hit the ground!" Jesse looked down and saw the white, sandy rims of the land below. His scream pierced Missy's ears. He doggy-paddled to her and snatched her into an awkward headlock of a last hug. Missy squeezed him the best she could. She didn't dare look down, but she could feel the ground getting closer. She was certain this would be worse than falling off the slide onto the mulch at the park.

Their screams climaxed when they speared the surface of the water instead of smashing into the sandy shore or worse. They bobbed to the surface, still clutching each other tightly with wide-eyed faces. They both glanced at each other.

Missy pretended to be focused on the water. "Are you still disappointed in me?" Missy asked.

Jesse slit his eyes. "Kind of."

"Oh, my goodness, they're just children!" A shrill voice from the shore caught their attention. They looked and saw a small crowd of residents gathered there. Someone jumped into the water and started swimming towards them. A few womanly cries went up from among the chorus of mumbles.

"You think we should swim over there?" Missy asked. Jesse nodded. They began a fazed, cold swim to shore. Being surrounded by so many people would've felt like a normal day for them in Beacontown, but the strangers seemed more ill and terrified than awed and inspired by Jesse and Missy. Nevertheless, the children smiled and waved. It was all part of the routine.

"Hi, I'm Jesse. This is Missy, my sister."

Missy smiled. "We're Jesse and Petra's kids."

A zealous man thrusted his way through the crowd, nearly stumbling into the two kids. "Are you two children alright?" Missy tried to answer. "I'm going to go get a doctor!"

"A doctor?" A woman shouted, accidentally cutting Jesse off. "Clearly, we need the Founder! It's not every day children fall from the sky."

"Excuse me, but—"

"She's right. The Founder knows about sheep. She might know about this, too."

Missy scowled at them. Did they ever shut up? "Excuse me!" She bellowed, stamping with one foot. Her high, loud voice silenced the whole crowd. She put on a happy face when they finally heeded. "My brother Jesse and I need to ask you a question: Do you all know about a guy named Aiden?" The worried faces morphed into disgusted ones right before her and her brother's eyes. Something about the silence suddenly made her feel uncomfortable.

Jesse stepped in front of Missy, surveying the faces around them. "Um… you know, he was with the Blaze Rods? We're here because we need to meet him. We want to talk with him."

"I told you! I told you these kids needed a doctor!" The man seemed crazed as he erratically pointed at the children. His face barely softened when he looked back at them. "You poor children must've hurt yourselves very badly. Only a looney would want to visit Aiden, wherever he lives these days." Jesse yelped when he lunged for their shoulders and began pushing them to the back of the crowd.

"Hey! Let go of us!" He nor his sister could break free of his strong grip. "Where are you taking us?!"

"I'm taking you two to get the help you so desperately need." Missy sent Jesse a confused look.

"But we don't need any help. We're fine on our own." Missy explained, still trying to break free.

"Yes, you do. I'm taking you children to the doctor, then the orphanage."

Jesse felt his lunch rising in his stomach. Missy stopped struggling. "The orphanage?!" They shouted in unison.

"But we have parents—"

"—And they're waiting for us at home—"

"—And we're adopted!"

Missy sent Jesse a shocked look. "We are?"

"Actually, I don't know." He whispered.

"Oh, don't you kids worry. They'll take good care of you at the orphanage. You'll be fed, you'll have a place to sleep, and you can play with the other kids… assuming they like you, but don't worry about that."

Jesse glared at him. He'd read enough books to see through his pretty lies, and he was sure Missy had too. If this man really thought they were going with him, _he_ was the one who needed help.

"You let go of my sister, now!" Jesse struggled around to send his foot flying into the man's shin. When he doubled over, he grabbed his sister and ran as fast as he could.

* * *

 **Deadlines approaching fast! Please leave a review, not just about the dialogue, but also about the story itself. I wanna hear what you have to say about this! Interacting with the base is super fun! Follow and favorite so you don't miss updates. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you tomorrow. CLOSE IT, CRISPER!**

 **Crisper: (closes it)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Guys, I know it's been a while since my last upload, and I'm sorry about that, to you and myself. I was supposed to upload something every day, and now look. And if you're wondering, Crisper still isn't back from acting-college. He left this note on his button.**

 _ **Dear Gamer,**_

 _ **I am still at acting college, but don't worry. I hired a stand-in last night and he should be here before the next update. Thanks for understanding!**_

 _ **Crisper Free**_

 **Anyways, as you can see I'm going to update TWP because it's the only thing I feel less-than-blocked on. Everything else? Blocked. Which brings me to the question….**

 **Since Lukas lives in Minecraftia, does he experience writer's-block or writer's-sphere?**

 **Also, if you spin an Oriental person around, will he be disoriented?**

 **And while we're on the subject, why do overlook and oversee mean two entirely different things?**

 **Just a few questions.**

 **(a spider crawls into the room)**

 **Oh my gosh, a spider! Imma crush da little-Oh, wait! There's a birthday card on it!**

 _ **Dear Gamer,**_

 _ **This is the stand-in I was talking about. His name is Bobby and he likes buttons. Please do not crush him, I heard they have this no-refund policy, and this guy cost me a few bucks.**_

 **(excitedly looks up from card) Hol up, Crisper has money?**

 _ **Yes, I have money, Gamer, I'm not poor like you. Anyways, please give him his peanut-butter jelly sandwich, his Capri-Sun and his Sun-Chips around twelve. Naptime is at 1:30, and he sleeps till three. If the router is broken and you can't upload, he'll be able to fix it.**_

 _ **He's good with the web. Must be woven into his DNA or something.**_

 _ **Well, I'll see you after the semester!**_

 _ **Crisper Free**_

 **(gives Bobby a skeptical look) You know how to work the buttons, son?**

 **Bobby: Yeah, I do it a little.**

 **Well, by all means, HIT IT!**

 **(Bobby hits it)**

* * *

The energetic children flew past idling merchants and citizens down the gravel road. Their heads snapped in every direction for a hideout, but every one of the tall, uniform buildings seemed to them like an orphanage. As Jesse ran forwards, Missy glanced back every now and then. No sight of the crazy man so far.

When Jesse felt the weight of his sister slowing down, he tightened his grasp on her hand and ran faster. "Missy, we have to keep going! They'll catch us if we stop."

Missy felt her legs starting to ache as her feet pounded the floor, trying to keep up with Jesse. "They're not even behind us, Jesse. We have to find a hiding spot."

"There _is_ no hiding spot!"

"Well, we can't run forever!" Her chest felt like it was on fire, and each dragging breath stoked the flame. Her sweaty hand slipped out of Jesse's and she halted, bending over and panting. Jesse's chest heaved as he walked back to her and grabbed her arm.

"Why are you tired?" He doubled over and wrenched in the air. "We… haven't even been running that long."

"Well, you're tired, too!" She sat up long enough to point at him, but stooped right back down.

"I'm not tired. I'm just… enjoying this air." His heavy panting kept him oblivious to his sister's annoyed glare.

"There! There they are!" The crazy-man's voice halted their breathing and they straightened like deer hearing a gunshot. He glared and pointed at them from the other end of the street before launching into action along with a few burly, broad-shouldered men. Missy screamed, and Jesse swooped for her arm and dragged her behind him. This garnered more eyes from concerned onlookers, but the children ran on, forgetting to breathe, much less to take in their surroundings.

They ran as far as their legs and the gravel road could take them. The road faded into dirt, and the rose-patches to tall, rebellious weeds. Lone trees stood here and there on the outskirts of the city. Within seconds the dirt road disappeared into a dry, ugly meadow. The brushes and stalks of grass and weeds tickled and stung the kids' bare legs, but the men in their tough cloth-jeans over their long legs sailed across the fields, getting closer and closer.

Jesse and Missy could feel his bony hands digging into their arms, dragging them off to the orphanage, away from Mommy and Daddy forever. Fear and desperation spurred them further into the meadow.

"You children aren't getting away!" Missy saw Crazy-Man plodding after them with a demonically "helpful" sneer. Mid-run, he tripped over a rock and faceplanted with a thump. She almost laughed with relief when the other men stopped to help their leader up.

Jesse spotted a cluster of oak-trees a few yards away from them, the perfect place to hide, if for a few seconds. He and Missy darted out of sight before the man was back on his feet. The amateur hiders panted wildly.

"Jesse," Missy hissed, "we can't hide here forever. They're going to find us."

Anxiety twinged in Jesse's stomach. Missy was more than right; it was only a matter of seconds before those men rounded the tree, then it was another grueling game of lion and mouse. He wasn't sure if he could take another round of that, nor was Missy. He didn't dare peek around the tree's bark. They had to keep moving forward.

They scanned the hopeless plain of pale yellow and dying green. Their new life in the orphanage crept closer with each second, calling out to them like the antagonist of a horror-story,

"I know you're out there… I'm coming to get you!"

Missy clenched her brother's hand. How could they possibly be home before dinner if they were locked up like animals for the rest of their lives? She searched the fields with nothing in mind but security. It was there she found the complete opposite.

A little way up the hill she saw a run-down shack built with dark, but dying wood sitting lifelessly still among the flowing grass. There wasn't anything else to the empty, forgotten house, if she could even call it that. No one would want to go there.

And that was all the security she'd need.

A loose branch hung just above them, and she jumped and snapped it off.

"I heard something! Over there!" Missy's distraction was already working. Jesse grabbed her shoulder and gave her a look of anger and fear.

"Missy, what are you doing?"

"Distracting them!" She raised the branch high over her head and tossed it out as far away from them as she could. The stick shuffled in the grass as it tumbled through, and Missy smiled when she saw the men going after it. She grabbed Jesse's arm and ran to the house as fast as she could. The door shrieked when she wrenched it open and she and Jesse flew inside, slamming it shut behind them. The old, abused door fainted with such hard use and fell to the floor with a thwack that made the kids flinch.

They heard more commotion as the search-party clamoured towards the house, and they knew they needed to hide. They scanned the house for a hiding spot. In addition to looking dead on the outside, the house was also empty on the inside. An old chair and a tiny table, dining room for one, crammed against a wall, right next to a dusty bed. Jesse ran to the bed, dropping to the creaky floor and squeezing himself under the bed. "Come on!" He called to her, halfway under. She followed suit, squeezing herself in just as footsteps barged into the house. The kids held their breaths. All was silent except for the creaking wood.

"I don't see them… maybe they're hiding. I _saw_ that door fall over."

"Nah, I don't think so," he walked right beside the bed. Jesse could see his leather boots idly tilting back and forth. "This place is so old and run-down, the door probably just caved in on itself."

"Yeah, like I wish this house would!" The third laughed. "Ah, I wish this place'd just… cave in on him while he's sleeping."

"Sleeping? Why not when he's wide awake to feel it?" Their laughing at such a gruesome topic would've sickened Missy if she wasn't already on the verge of vomiting with fear.

"Why don't we give him a hand?" Jesse flinched when glass exploded and shards reached as far as the bed beside him. The loud sound was quickly followed by soft, sinister laughter. "Sometimes I wish Isa wasn't so fair to him. Letting him out of jail was far enough, but if she'd loosen up a little on that vandalism-law when it comes to freaks like him…." Their feet filed out of the door.

Missy didn't push herself from under the bed until they were sure they were gone. She gasped when she saw crystal of glass spanning the dirt floor, all leading back to the now-shattered window. She felt Jesse's presence behind her as they both looked at the mess.

"Who were those mean people?" Jesse asked. He really didn't care so much who they were, so as long as they were punished for this. His eyes trailed to the door where dull sunlight streamed in. "You think we should go back out?"

Missy shook her head and plopped onto the bed. "Let's stay here and rest. I don't wanna get chased again." Jesse walked to the bed and laid opposite of her, so that his knees were at her head and vice versa.

"Missy, do you think this is Aiden's house?"

"I don't know, I thought Aiden was still in jail."

"Maybe they let him out, and his two friends." He sat up, suddenly noticing the orange tint in the sky. It was starting to get late, and they had gotten nowhere. But did he really want to risk going back out there with the threat of being sent to the orphanage? Finding Aiden was important but getting home at all was even more so. He wondered how things were going at home. By this time, they'd be working on math problems with their mom, or Uncle Lukas if that's what it came down to. Their dad Jesse would be running Beacontown with Uncle Radar until dinnertime. Who knew what Uncle Axel and Auntie Olivia were up to? Something cool, Jesse figured. Did anyone know they were gone?

Something shuffled through the grass and caught his and Missy's attention. "Someone's coming, hide!" They clambered underneath the bed just as the wood creaked, signaling that someone else was in the house with them.

* * *

The first thing Aiden noticed was the door was down. He'd seen worse, but this was new. He walked further up the hill to see the fallen door in all its glory. That's when he noticed the window, or the lack of window. Just a reminder of how everyone in town saw him, not counting his new black eye, all the trouble he went through to get the piece of bread he was holding right now (piece, not loaf), and... He couldn't stand in the doorway counting his troubles. The setting sun worried him. Sunset always brought the frigid night seeping through the rotting wood of his shelter and the mere sheet he called a blanket, and now nature's icy touch had a new way to torment him at night.

He sighed and stepped over his door, resolving to put it back up and then board up the window when he was finished hiding his food. Walking into the eerily empty house would've filled another with unease, disgust, but for Aiden the unease left him because it was empty. No one would be there to jump out of a corner and attack him like in the city. He wasn't always haunted by Gill and Maya's loathing stares, if not in his mind at least. He walked to his bed and pulled back the thin covering of his deteriorating mattress where a small card waited inside. He pulled it out and smiled weakly at it, a picture of him, his friends, and Lukas. Simpler days. Happier days. Warmer days.

He thought again about the broken window, the fallen door. It was pointless. If he froze and died, he would freeze and die. He flopped onto the bed but flew right out with a yelp when it screamed on impact. The unexpected cry of pain pressed him against the plain walls and nearly paralyzed him except for his pounding heart. Guilt-ridden as he was, he still managed to curse the council for restricting him from owning as little as a shovel. He often swore the council officiated that law solely in favor of the revenge-hungry guard and the city zealots.

A small hand clawed its way from under the bed, pulling the body of a young boy out with it, closely followed by another girl. Kids? He was almost scared to an early (somewhat welcome) grave because of _kids?!_

"You hurt my nose!" The boy whined, glaring straight at him.

Aiden glared right back. "Well, maybe if you kids weren't _hiding under my bed_ it wouldn't have happened!" He remembered the door as he quickly studied his unwelcome house-guests. He pointed to the empty doorway. "Did you two do that?"

The little girl frowned at the mess, and then back at him. "Maybe?"

He drove a hand through his hair. "Maybe!"

Missy rubbed her shoulder and eyed the floor. "Yeah… maybe."

"Well, how about that?" He pointed to the window. "Did you do that, too?"

"No, those mean guys came in and did that!" The boy said. Aiden started to retort, but then he realized maybe someone else _had_ done that. Aggravating as it was to think, it was a very plausible theory.

He marched to the window. "I swear to God!"

"Why did you just whistle?"

"What?" He glared at the girl over his shoulder.

"When you said 'swear', you made a little whistle. Also, my mom said, 'I swear to God' isn't very nice to say." Aiden lifted a brow at first, but then remembered his long-missing tooth and the new, unexpected music that completely nullified his harsh comebacks. Not one soul in prison would let up about Aiden the Mockingbird.

He leaned on the window-sill, gazing at the dying grass outside. "Shut up." He said it with such anger it came out with a shrill whistle.

"That's rude." Aiden rolled his eyes with a groan.

He turned around and faced them, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Listen, would you two just get out of my house? I'm tired, I want to go to sleep, I see enough trouble every day."

"What kind of trouble? Is your job hard?"

If being a punching-bag counted as a job, he would've answered yes, but like Gill and Maya probably were, he was unemployed. He held up the piece of bread. "You see this? It's all I'm going to eat for a while, and I had to get this," he pointed to his blackened eye, "to get it." Just scratching the surface of his sordid life dampened their moods, making them exchange sorrowful glances. "All I want to do now is go to sleep. Forever, if I can arrange that. There's the door." He elegantly gestured to the door, and then remembered it was laying across the floor. Forgetting it for a few minutes was remotely pleasant, but anger had found its way back. How was he going to get that fixed before sunset?

"But we can't leave."

He glared at the girl. "And why is that?"

"Those crazy people out there want to throw us into the orphanage."

He almost laughed. "The orphanage? You're scared of the orphanage?"

"Well, yeah."

"Kid, do you know what I'd give to live in an orphanage right now? At least they feed you there, give you a place to sleep, I mean hey! It's better than jail." He wanted to think that kids these days were ungrateful, but it always haunted him that he simply was not normal. If he'd kept his mind in a sane place, he wouldn't be wanting to go to an orphanage. He wouldn't even be in this dimension. He'd be somewhere far better, maybe even in his house, with his friends, with Lukas, and the door wouldn't be broken down or the windows smashed in. He was the ungrateful one.

"Um, sir?" The kid's awestruck voice didn't pique his interest, but he turned around anyways. The amazed look on both of their faces surprised him.

"What?"

"Are you… Aiden?"

He snickered with scorn. The way she asked made him sound almost important. He joked right along, feeling life shaking its whole being at him. "The one and only." This would've been the part where the innocent, tenderhearted children fled for their lives from the warlock's old hut, but life's script must've done a backflip because the two kids stared at him with not growing disgust, but growing awe. It was then he realized something was about to go wrong.

* * *

 **So, I finally got that writer's block stopped. Now for some more Regular, Natural, Sense-Making Logic I've found on the Reliable Internet:**

 **If you want to see a younger version of yourself, you've gotta look at an older picture.**

 **If I get out of the shower clean, why does my towel get dirty? On that subject, if you drop a bucket of soapy water on the floor, is it clean or messy?**

 **The only time 'incorrectly' is spelled incorrectly is when it's spelled incorrectly.**

 **Isn't it funny how you have thousands of little voices in your head, like the ones you used to not just read this entire story, but also to give Aiden, Missy, Jesse and others distinct voices?**

 **Well, I've gotta run. I'll do extra reviews next chapter because… curfews. Close it, Bob.**

 **Bob: (closes it)**


End file.
